3 Days Private Luxury Guilin Highlights Tour

CHINA OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2019 We researched several companies and studied reviews on Trip Adviser before contacting China Culture Tour with an initial query. Right from the outset Grace who owns the company was excellent. She emailed detailed information and a suggested itinerary then phoned me in Scotland to ask if there was anything else she could help with. What service and we hadn’t even booked anything yet! Needless to say we decided to go with China Culture Tour and finalised everything with Grace who was very accommodating and came up with a holiday itinerary that included everything on our list. Our 17 day tour was Bejing-Cruise on the Yangtze-Chengdu-Xian-Guilin-Yangshuo-Shanghai. Everything went like clockwork. As soon as we landed in Bejing we were met by our driver and delightful guide Olivia who checked us into our hotel and sorted us out with a local sim card. We had opted for centrally located 4 star hotels and all were excellent. Besides being very comfortable all were located within easy walking distance of the centre. Our days were generally 9 to 5 apart from the day we visited the Great Wall when on the advice of Olivia we were picked up at 0730. We spent several hours walking in relative solitude but by the time we left on the toboggan (great fun) the wall was mobbed. Being keen sports fans we also visited the Olympic Park and saw the Birds Nest and the Water cube which is now known as the Ive Cube! It was our 30th wedding anniversary in Bejing and Olivia presented us with a beautiful cake and also presented us us a gift when we left. What a lovely touching gesture. Our flight from Bejing to Yichang landed early and our transfer to the Cruise ship was seamless. We enjoyed our 4 day cruise on the Yangtze which visited the lesser gorges, the 3 gorges dam and a pagoda. Our room was good with 2 large windows and a balcony and we met some lovely Americans who were seated at the same table for meals. The food however was a disappointment and the cruise probably a day too long as there isn’t much to do onboard and the last day we mainly sailed past industrial areas and towns. The transfer from the port to the train station at Chongqing was again seamless and we took the bullet train which was spotlessly clean and arrived perfectly on time. As we entered the train station our luggage was put through security and my husband had his aerosol deoderant and shaving foam confiscated. Not sure if it was because they were too big or if all aerosols are banned but worth noting for future travellers. Our guide in Chengdu was Luna who again was very keen for us to experience as much as possible. Our accommodation here had been changed by Grace who had contacted us on the cruise to let us know she had received a poor review for the Chengdu hotel so she changed us to a fabulous aparthotel. What service! We also had a minor medical issue here and our driver and Luna were unbelievably helpful in resolving this. We loved seeing the pandas but the highlight for us was the Peoples park on the Sunday which was mobbed. There was so much going on in the park singing, dancing, playing music, a marriage street where parents advertise their sons and daughters availability, ear cleaning (yes really!) and mahjong. After an alfresco lunch Luna tried to teach us how to play this much to the amusement of passers by. Brilliant fun. Another seamless bullet train journey to Xian where our guide was Lucy. There we learned the story of and visited the Terracotta Warriors. Do you know it takes one year to restore a single warrior! We also had a great time visiting ‘Auntie’ at her home where we attempted to make dumplings to match the ones she had made earlier. It was fantastic to see how a Chinese family lived and a joy to share lunch with them. On to our next destination of Guilin which is a lovely city and Grace’s home town. Our guide Mike took us to many places including the ancient town of Daxu which happened to be the same day the mayor was visiting so there was much going on. It was fascinating to learn how the elderly had left to live in newer bigger apartments in the cities but then returned to their simple life as they didn’t enjoy the hustle and bustle. We were also really fortunate to meet up with Grace who arranged our fabulous holiday and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner with her. An amazing four hour boat trip along the River Li where we were treated to fantastic scenery saw us reach Yangshuo and our hotel situated beside the water. The views here are stunning and after our cycle it was lovely to relax and watch the Chinese punts lazily making their way downstream. We would recommend more than one night here as it is beautiful. Our last day saw us in Shanghai where the Bund at night is truly magical. Our guide Martina packed so much including a visit to the top of the Financial Centre where we were treated to an amazing 360 degree view of the city then lunch and a tour in the busy French Concession area. I can’t praise China Culture Tour enough for our brilliant holiday. All our guides, drivers, transfers, hotels, meals and tours were excellent. We had great fun and it was fascinating to learn from the guides about their way of life. All the cities we visited were spotlessly clean (even the leaves were swept away) and we never felt uncomfortable out on our own. China is an amazing country and it was a joy to be able to experience it with China Culture Tour.

This is my second time with China Culture Tours. I had dinner with Grace (thank you again) and Linda was an outstanding tour guide. We had to make a last minute change and the weather was challenging our best laid plans. However, Linda ably guided us and the selection of the hotels and the home-made lunch in Longji was a highlight. Linda was helpful, energetic and full of information. She was also very responsive to all our needs. I especially enjoyed her goading me on the climb all the mountain tops, and her flexibility in making sure we got to savor the local food. Thanks for a great time.

I had the fortune to hire China Culture Tour for my trip to China. Nora was extremely helpful from the beginning until the end of my trip. I highly recommend to hire China Culture tour, I do not recommend to do your own arrangements, it is a different logistic and a big country to maximize your time while you are there. Nora helped me with tours, transportations, recommendations, hotels, train tickets etc. Thank you so much Nora for making feel safe, protected and for the follow up while I was in China.